Thermodynamics of Nucleic Acids Enclosed in Reverse Phase Vesicles

Abstract

Reverse micelles and vesicles mimic properties of biological membranes in the sense that they include a small water volume in a charged or in an at least polar surface formed by the hydrophilic headgroups of amphiphilic compounds. Membranes with this type of a surface form the cellular compartments which are the reaction vessels for most chemical processes of living organisms. Therefore, it is of basic interest to study the interaction of the membrane surface with the native macromolecular components of the cell, i.e. mainly with proteins and nucleic acids. Whereas the interactions of proteins with lipid membranes and proteins with nucleic acids have been studied in great detail, very little is known about the interaction of nucleic acids and lipid membranes.